Homeless man burns to death

Mississauga News

SCARBOROUGH — A security guard making his outdoor rounds over the weekend at Centennial College watched a man burn to death in a nearby park, Toronto police said Monday.
Quick action by a passing police officer, who arrived less than a minute later and used a fire extinguisher on the still-burning body, could not save the man.
The burned man, who police say was homeless, appeared to be “using a metal container as a makeshift home” and was using a propane burner to heat it.
On Saturday night, he somehow set himself on fire but managed to escape the container, which was three feet wide, five feet high and 10 feet long.
The security guard was walking the perimeter of the college campus when he smelled smoke and saw a human body engulfed in flames, police said.
The man, who carried identification, was 52.
Police did not release his name.
The investigation into the incident continued yesterday, but police at this time do not consider the death suspicious.